Growing - Part 1
by RubyD
Summary: Starring Jubilee - she's having some problems with her powers and goes through some problems trying to control it.
1. Default Chapter Title

"Growing"  
By Ruby at RubyRage_sq@yahoo.com  
  
Teaser: Starring Jubilee - she's having some problems with her powers and goes through some problems trying to control it. Rated PG/Angst for some mature themes.   
  
Disclaimers: I do not own Generation X or it's characters. I'm not getting paid for this, though I wish I were. This happens way back around O:ZT and that weird M-Plate thing. What ever happened next will not be mentioned in any big way.  
*Thanks to JB Mac for beta reading and correcting stuff that needed to be.  
  
  
Growing: Part 1  
  
'All right,' Jubilee thought to herself, 'do what Wolvie told ya: stay alert, stay quiet, and stay outta sight.' She took a peek at her surroundings from the foliage she was hiding in and saw no one. Moving as quietly as she could, Jubilee left her spot to look for the others.   
  
For daily exercises she and the rest of Generation X were at the Biosphere. Today Emma had split the team into two groups: Chamber, Jubilee, and Husk, then M, Synch, and Skin. It was a type of 'Tag' game, but both teams were "it." When two people faced each other, they had to fight to decide who would end up on which side. The White Queen would determine who was the winner and would monitor so no one would be seriously injured.   
  
So far Paige had gone to Skin's team after Synch had defeated her, Chamber was nowhere to be found, and Jubilee was hoping to find him so they could think up a plan. 'Two against four, not bad odds. I can take them,' she thought. 'Hopefully.' Her eyes strained to see around her darkened surroundings, trying not to trip on any hidden objects or traps. Jubilee could have used her paffs but that might have given away her position.  
  
It had been a while since the team had done any work in the Biosphere; they were kind of busy with Zero Tolerance and M-Plate. Jubilee was a bit envious that the others got to go to LA when she was captured by Bastion, she might have gone to see CynJen, the mall wasn't far from there. She wondered how her old friend was doing.  
  
A small clearing next to the stream revealed Chamber standing with his back to her, pale orange flames flickering, outlining his dark form.  
  
"Yo, Sparky!" Jubilee whispered. He turned around and walked towards her, but didn't say anything. She was immediately suspicious and on her guard. Jono hated it when she called him "Sparky" and would usually tell her to shut up. No psy-talk meant he was thinking of something else, that something else probably meant he was informing Skin's group about where she was, and that meant they were heading to her.  
  
Chamber sent a small blast of energy hurling at Jubilee. She ducked and jumped out of the way and it hit the tree behind her, leaving a circular burn mark.  
  
"Rassum-frassum…!" Jubilee muttered.  
  
*Giving up, gel?* Chamber said. She bet that if he had a face he would be smiling.  
  
"Not even!"  
  
Leaping like a cat she avoided another energy blast. Clenching one of her fists she sent a colorful burst of her own power back to him with the other hand, leaving Jono a bit dazed.   
  
"Take that, ya fire breathing downer junkie!" Jubilee was about to knock him out into Thursday when yards of skin grabbed her from behind.  
  
"Gotcha!" Skin yelled.  
  
"Sure you did, Ang," Jubilee said, and then proceeded to jab her elbows into his stomach.  
  
"ACK!" He released her and she got out of the path of oncoming bio-kinetic energy from a recovering Chamber. It whizzed by Angelo's head and burned some of his hair on top.  
  
"Que?!"  
  
*Sorry!*  
  
"Amateurs! Ha!" Running at full speed Jubilee didn't see the foot in front of her until she tripped over it. She knocked her head on a large rock and slid for a few feet. She looked up, her vision blurry. What she saw made her eyes widen in shock.  
  
"Bastion?!" she managed to squeak. He stepped closer to her.  
  
"Jubilee?" he said, "Are you-"  
  
"Get away from me!!" She tried to scramble away on her back, anger and fear gripping her chest.  
  
"J! It's me!" He reached a hand towards her, was that a weapon she saw?  
  
"NOOO!!!" Jubilee closed her eyes tightly and lashed out with her powers.   
  
The ear-shattering sound of an explosion rocked the Biosphere and everyone inside its walls.  
  
When Jubilee opened her eyes again her sight had cleared, but her ears still rung. Looking around she was surprised to see a big, blackened circle around her about ten yards in diameter. The trees that were in the circle were… gone. Like non-existent, all had burned to ash. Just at the edge of the circle was M kneeling in front of a limp form.  
  
"Ev!" Jubilee shouted. The horrible realization struck her: it was Ev, not Bastion! She ran over to him, a sob rising in her throat. "Ev! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I thought you were-"  
  
"Calm down, Jubilation!" M ordered, "Ms. Frost saw what was going to happen so she made him synch with me at the last moment."  
  
"So he's not dead?" She was nearly hyperventilating in fear of her friend's fate.  
  
"No. He's just in shock, Everett will come out of it eventually."   
  
Everett stirred and groaned. "What hit me?" Jubilee leaped and hugged him fiercely.   
  
"OhmigodEvI'msoooosorryIthoughtyouwereBastionandIalmostkilledyouandthatwouldhavebeenreallybadcauseIreallycareaboutyouand-"  
  
"It's all right J! You didn't mean it and I'm still here." Everett assured her.  
  
"Are you hurt or anythin'?"  
  
"Nah, just some cuts before I synched with M. I'm fine, trust me."  
  
*Children, practice is over. Everett, you go to the Med Bay to put some bandages on your wounds,* a crisp and cool voice said.  
  
Jubilee tried to act nonchalant, saying, "Mix Frost, uhh… does this mean I win?"  
  
*No, and I want to see you in my office after you've changed out of your uniform. Sean and I need to speak with you.*   
  
"Yes, ma'am."   
  
  
End of Part 1  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

Growing  
Part 2  
By Ruby  
  
Sean paced restlessly in the office while Emma was seated not quite so calmly at her desk. Ever since she had met Jubilee the child had been self confident and quick to respond with a glib word or joke, but her losing control of her normally and carefully contained powers disturbed Emma more than she would have cared to admit. Jubilee was her student after all.  
  
"Ach, Em, we should have seen that this would happen! Everett would have been killed if you hadn't stepped in at th' last moment!" Sean said.   
  
The White Queen's response was calm but showed her worry, "I know, Sean, and will you stop walking back and forth in that manner? It's distracting." She motioned to one of the two chairs at the foot of the desk. He frowned but sat down anyway.  
  
"Poor lass, being captured by Bastion must have affected her more than we thought. How will we tell this to th' X-Men?"  
  
"Try not to be so pessimistic," she said as a small thought blossomed in her mind, "this experience might actually have helped her."  
  
"Helped Jubilee? You saw th' way she reacted when she thought Everett was Bastion. How could that help her?!"  
  
"I've always known that Jubilee's powers were greater than she dared to use. Maybe now she might learn how to control them better. If this didn't happen now it would have happened someplace else where a lot of people could have been hurt and even killed. Right now we need to stay calm for her sake."  
  
"Emma-" he started, but she interrupted him.  
  
"She's here." The door opened a crack and they saw a blue eye peek at them. Strange how one eye could hold such vulnerability and stubbornness at the same time.  
  
"Come in, lass," Sean said gently, wondering if Jubilee heard them talking about her. It wouldn't be the first time she listened in on a conversation not meant for her to hear.  
  
She stepped into the office sporting her usual yellow rain coat, a T-shirt, and jeans. She sat down on a chair and with a nervous cough she said, "So… am I in trouble?"  
  
"No, Jubilee, we just wanted to ask you about what happened in the Biosphere," Emma explained.  
  
"You know what happened, you were there."  
  
"Yes, but may we hear it from your perspective?"  
  
A small sigh came from Jubilee, "I fought, I thought I saw Bastion, I freaked, and I blew stuff up while narrowly missing killing a few people. Now I'm wondering what yer gonna do. Enough?"  
  
It was Emma's turn to sigh; this girl just wouldn't open up to anyone.  
  
"What do ye think we should do?" Sean asked.  
  
That threw Jubilee a bit off, she was expecting something along the lines of "We're going to do what we think is best for you without asking what you think first" kind of stuff. "Well, um, nothing?" she hoped.  
  
Under the White Queen's surprisingly black look she thought of a better response. "Ooookay, wrong answer…how about if I train an extra hour every two days?"  
  
Emma and Sean both raised an eyebrow at her in the same instant, the effect was very funny but Jubilee guessed that they would probably think she lost her mind if she started laughing.  
  
"I know what yer thinking-"Jubilee" and the words "extra training" don't go in the same sentence. Yeah, I don't *like* walking up at 5:30 every morning, but I know I have to do it so someday I can help others and mutants like me. That's the whole point in this great big Dream, right? Becoming a better person and getting people to understand that mutants are like normal people, just with a genetic twist. To prove we aren't all evil." Jubilee paused and looked pointedly at the two surprised adults, "I'm super sorry for what I did in the Biosphere, I lost it and I coulda really hurt someone. Ev might be dead if Queenie hadn't saved his butt. Thanks.  
  
"So, is that enough of an answer?"  
  
***  
  
It had been two weeks since the incident in the biosphere, two weeks in which Jubilee had tried to get out of the extra hour of training by claiming she did it in a fit of "non-sanely-ness and guilt." And after that statement Frost had assigned her four more hours of homework, reading the dictionary and explaining why that wasn't a word. The mall-rat had kept her promise for about ten days and had actually liked some of the hard work. It was, in Emma's opinion, better than expected.   
  
That day Generation X was taking a small trip, a trip to a certain Xavier's School for Higher Learning. Emma thought that the team might benefit from some training with the X-Men.   
  
"Are we there yet?" Jubilee asked for the fifty-third time.  
  
"Again, no." Sean said through clenched teeth.   
  
"What's takin' so long? When I was with the X-Men we wouldn't bother with red lights most of the time--probably because we were either chasing or being chased by some psychopathic maniac with a wrench. Hey, is that another billboard fer McDonalds? Have you ever noticed when you drive towards LA that there's a billboard every mile that advertises this same restaurant over and over and over and over again until you're, like, so hypnotized that you gotta stop at it when you get there to try to get something to eat only then you find out you spent most of the money you had on the casino next door…?"  
  
After that, Sean wasn't the only one giving Jubilee a near-death glare. For the last few miles she had been talking non-stop about the X-Men and other sugar induced topics. Gen-X tried everything to make her shut up so they could think quiet thoughts to themselves, but her will and the six cans of Surge that she drank won out. Now they just tried to think quiet, violent thoughts without acting on them.   
  
*Remind me again, Sunshine… WHY are we crammed in a bleedin' minivan wit' only enough space to breathe?* Jono grumbled.  
  
"You _can't_ breathe, remember?" answered Paige as she ribbed him with her elbow.  
  
*Yeah, well… if I could me life would be over 'cause Jubilee used the air up.*   
  
"…I heard that!" Jubilee said after pausing for a breath, then continuing on, "…and the food wasn't really good, actually it was pretty bad and the fries were either that or charcoal…"   
  
*How? I was only talking to Paige.*  
  
"Dunno, just can. Look! It's road-kill, how eww. Did you know there was this book on recognizing road-kill and it was called 'Flattened Fauna and Pan-Caked Poodles' or something like that… Are we there yet?"  
  
"Jubilee…!" Sean bit his tongue to stop himself from yelling, since that would have been bad coming from a man with the cod-e-name "Banshee."  
  
At the next turn a welcoming sight greeted them. A large brick building stood surrounded by miles of forest and a sign in front that revealed the obvious. It was the home of the X-Men.  
  
"We're almost there! We're almost there! I see the mansion! Hoo-ya!" Jubilee cheered.  
  
As they drove up the lane leading into the driveway, Gambit, Storm, Wolverine and Marrow came out to greet them. Before the van finally stopped Jubilee leaped out and ran to the bulky figure standing apart from the greeters.  
  
"Wolvie!" she shouted as she hugged him, "How're ya doing, ya big lug?"  
  
"Been doin' fine, darlin'." Wolverine responded before she started off on how busy she'd been.  
  
Paige looked on wistfully as the team approached the X-Men. "Too bad mah brother Sam isn't here. It would have been fun to try to top him with the battles Generation X has been in to the New Mutants," she told Jono.  
  
"Did I hear someone say dey were Sam's sister?" said a familiarly accented voice.  
  
"Oh, hi Mr. LeBeau."   
  
"So what fights have you been in, petite? Gambit hope you haven't been hurting your hands, neh?" he grinned.  
  
"We've been in tons of battles, right Gen-Xers?" Jubilee said as everyone entered the mansion. Emma and Sean went off to talk to Storm after telling the teens to make themselves comfortable.  
  
Wolverine left, saying, "Gotta fade right now, talk to ya later."  
  
"In fact, we're probably better than you guys," Monet told the remaining two X-Men.  
  
"A vote of confidence from M, not bad," commented Jubilee.  
  
Marrow coughed in doubt. "I don't think so. You people are even softer than the rest of the X-Men," she sneered. "At least they can fight."  
  
"You must be Marrow, heard a bunch o' ya."  
  
"And you're Jubilee, heard you're a brat."  
  
"What?! Why ya-!"  
  
"'Why ya' what? I bet you and the rest of Gen-X couldn't win *half* the battles we've been in."   
  
"Marrow, I t'ink dis is not such a good idea," Gambit said.  
  
"Shut up," she answered.  
  
"Well, Ms. High-and-mighty-and-so-stuck-up-you-can-see-how-much-snot-is-up-my-nose," Jubilee shouted, "I think you and the rest of the X-Men should hang up your uniforms and build a 'Nursing Home for Tired Old Guys That Use to be X-Men But Can't Fight' because I bet we CAN!"   
  
"Mon Dieu… Gambit ain't old."  
  
"Big talk for a little girl. Think you and Gen-X can win? Let's see about that. Your team at the Danger Room in one hour."  
  
"Why in an hour?" Jubilee asked.  
  
"So you can say your prayers, little girl. You're going to need 'em." And with those words Marrow left while Gambit followed, trying to talk her out of it.  
  
"Stormy's not going to like dis."   
  
"Well *I'm* not going to tell 'er…" Was all Generation X could hear before the pair were too far away.  
  
"Okay," started Ev, "What happened and what have you gotten us into?"  
  
"And when did we become 'your team?' Not like we ever decided who was the leader, chica," said Skin.  
  
Jubilee looked at him and said, "Hey, you don't think I can take it? "   
  
"Well-" he stopped, wondering if she would fry him if he said anything.  
  
Seeing his expression she smirked. "Relax, I was kidding. Although, I *do* think we could win half their battles! In fact, we gotta show boney blades who's boss!"   
  
"It's great that you have a lot of faith in us, but do you actually think we stand a chance?" asked a skeptical Paige.  
  
"Sure, and we have an hour. So let's get ready!"  
  
*Oh, boy,* was all Jono had to say.  
  
  
End of Part 2  
  



	3. Default Chapter Title

Growing  
Part 3  
By Ruby  
  
"Here's the 410 plus 1," said Jubilee. "We fight ten battles against ten baddies that you decide on and we win at least half."   
  
She, along with the rest of Generation X, Gambit and Marrow were at the Danger Room because of a bet between Marrow and Jubilee about Gen-X's fighting ability. For the last hour the teens had done some research on the X-Men's history and decided ten hard battles were better than fighting about a zillion small ones.   
  
"Yeah. Ya lose a round when everyone 'dies.' If that happens, you're out 'til the next fight," Marrow answered with a poisonous smile.   
  
"Pihh, we won't lose…but we want to know one thing: what do we get when we win the bet?"   
  
"*When* you win? Try *if* you survive. What do ya want? Better not be something like cleaning the mansion."  
  
"Nope. Just your respect and your apology." M and Angelo threw a quick glance to each other. Respect? Apology? That didn't sound like Jubilee.  
  
"My apology? Maybe, but I don't just give away my respect to anybody that skips along the yellow brick road like an idiot."  
  
"Oh, then eighty bucks."  
  
"Eighty bucks? Do ya think I'm rich or something? Well, when I win I want ya to stay out of my way for the next two weeks you're here-do that anyway even if you actually *do* win."  
  
"Deal. As they say on Celebrity Deathmatch: Let's get it on!"  
  
Generation X got ready as Gambit and Marrow went to the control room that overlooked the Danger Room. The usually casual Gambit seemed agitated as they ascended.   
  
"Chere, don' be too hard on dem, oui?" he asked.   
  
Marrow glanced doubtfully at him; his mouth was set on a firm line. She continued walking and didn't say anything.  
  
***  
  
"Get ready," said Husk, "it should start-"   
  
"Now," Marrow's voice growled over the speakers.  
  
The whole room disappeared before Generation X's eyes and was replaced by a city area. The air held the stench of rotting garbage and smog. They were in an alley near a road that was filled with honking cars stuck in rush hour.  
  
"Move it, you little son of a-" yelled one driver to the car in front of him.   
  
"Just like the real thing." Skin commented as his eyes glanced at some suspicious looking figures across the street. A sudden loud roar that filled the air caused the team to look up.  
  
"Sentinels!" shouted Everett. Three Sentinels descended from the sky like a great tidal wave of sound and metal about to crash. "Duck!"  
  
"Quack!" Jubilee exclaimed as she narrowly missed being squashed like gum under a shoe.  
  
A driver screamed in panic as he climbed out of his vehicle and leaped into a flat out run. Once the other people realized they wouldn't be able to drive away because of the gridlock, they poured out of their cars too. The terrified mob of humanity ran in every which direction other than towards the robots.  
  
The streets were flooded with bodies trying to run around or over the teammates. Hoping to avoid being crushed by the oncoming wave Everett and Jubilee managed to climb onto a fire escape while the rest did their best to reach safer ground.  
  
M flew behind one's head to try to disable it, but another Sentinel swatted her away into a brick wall. It left an imprint of her body once she freed herself.   
  
"Come on, you guys! Remember your fighting techniques!" said Paige. She husked into steel and started punching the nearest Sentinel's foot. Skin and Chamber had also scaled the fire escapes to attack from the roof.  
  
"Aim for the head!" ordered Everett as he synched with Jubilee and fired from a second story window.  
  
*No problem,* said Chamber as he sent a blast of energy into it's chest. He stopped and stared at it for a second; its gaping 'wound' of sparking wires had created a kind of disturbing resemblance to Jono himself. But the Sentinel wasn't down yet and it aimed a ray towards him.  
  
"Missed the eyes, amigo," Skin shouted as he wrapped its visual sensors with his skin. Blinded, the giant lump of metal did not know where to fire.   
  
"Timber!" Paige declared as she finished mangling it's foot. As it fell down with a tremendous crash, Chamber sent a second blast to make sure it wouldn't get up.  
  
Deciding that violence was the best possible solution, M had flown herself straight into its head and out its chest. It also fell down, and also did not get up.  
  
Then there was only one left. Jubilee and Everett focused their powers on it and the resulting explosion blew off the Sentinel's head. The pieces of metal and debris fell like rain.  
  
"Woo," Paige commented with wide eyes, "nice job."  
  
"Not bad, but not good." Marrow said over the speakers. "You've one win."  
  
"Yeah! We rock!" Jubilee cheered. The team grinned at their first victory and was pumped up on enough adrenaline to plow on to the next battle, confident that they would win. "So what's next?"  
  
"Try and beat this…" she trailed off menacingly.  
  
Their surroundings shifted again into a sort of valley filled with large rock formations and caves. A breeze whistled around them and they could smell the salty air of an ocean nearby.  
  
"Whoa…" Husk whispered when she looked up. Generation X did so too, expecting a new threat, but they saw something else stunning.   
  
The sky above them seemed to have exploded with millions of glowing stars, and two large greenish moons or planets hung above the horizon. Meteorite shot across space like flaming rain and the gravity seemed to have lessened a bit. The whole effect was very calming.  
  
"This is nice," Jubilee murmured.  
  
A screech sounded out from the darkness like a siren in a library. Suddenly dozens of insect-like *things* crawled out of the caves, leaving small trails of ooze or slobber.  
  
"Madre de Dios! What is *that*?!" Skin shouted.  
  
"The Brood," M responded. "Whom the X-Men called, appropriately, 'Sleazoids.'"  
  
A Sleazoid leaped and landed on Skin. They fought for a moment. Skin fought the alien's teeth and claws, while the alien tried to get untangled from the mutant's, well, skin. But the winner was clearly going to be the Sleazoid.   
  
It wrapped its jaws around his neck, and for a moment Angelo could feel the rows of razor sharp points pressing into his throat. He closed his eyes. Then the pressure lifted from his neck and the yards of skin that he had twisted around the Sleazoid suddenly felt empty air.   
  
Upon opening his eyes Skin saw total darkness. Abruptly realizing that he was looking *in* down the alien's throat he quickly stepped back and saw that the thing went through him when it tried to touch him.  
  
"Que?" He asked.   
  
"Umm, I think you're dead," stated Everett as he glanced nervously at the advancing swarm. "I guess that means you won't be able to touch anything."  
  
"Si."  
  
The Sleazoid jumped at Skin again but went through him and landed on another Sleazoid. Surprised, the two beasts assaulted one another until they slashed each other to the ground. The Brood's attention momentarily shifted to the pair.  
  
"Can I say 'Technicolor yawn?' Yup. Ugh…I *know* I'm gonna wake up hollerin' one night 'cause of that." Jubilee blanched. "Hey, they're distracted, none of us has the last name Weaver, I say we run. Anyone oppose?"  
  
"Do we even need to waste time voting?" asked Everett.  
  
"Good point. RUN!"   
  
Realizing that the earthlings were getting away, the Brood launched its attack at Generation X with angered cries. With the team's combined powers they managed to destroy about a fourth of the Brood… but they lost regardless because of the monsters' ferocity.  
  
***  
  
Generation X fought seven more battles: Apocalypse (lost), Mojo (won), Phalanx (lost), Onslaught (lost), Dark Phoenix (lost), Juggernaut (won), and the old Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (won).  
  
By this time, Generation X had built up a small audience in the control room. Emma and Sean were there, certainly, to watch their students, and also Wolverine, Kitty, Gambit and Kurt came to see them. The young team could hear the spectator's loud cheering through the thick glass after every win. Of course, Marrow's voice wasn't among those.  
  
"So, Em," the headmaster of Massachusetts Academy said and beamed fondly at the students below. "How do ye think they're doing?"  
  
"They could do better. After all that training they should have won five first." But despite the White Queen's criticism a slightly raised corner of her lips proved that she was proud at how Gen X was doing against the X-men's simulated old foes. Although when Marrow brought up the old Brotherhood for the teens to fight she had frowned as the simulated Emma was easily taken down by one punch from Chamber. Was the child mocking her by making Frost's Danger Room character weak? She would have to speak to the girl later.  
  
"This is good practice for them, especially Everett and Jubilee since they seem to work very well together. I think the lass is going to win th' bet."  
  
"Hmm, yes," she said lightly. Emma had never really approved of gambling or betting since she had once experienced first-hand the problems it could cause. "As well as our students are doing I don't approve of them making bets and arranging fights. Gambit, come over here."  
  
Remy, who was watching from the corner, flashed an even smile and walked over. "Oui, cher-Mademoiselle?" he corrected himself when he remembered that it was Emma Frost he was addressing and not an ordinary casual acquaintance. Any disrespect on his part would surely be met with her ice-cold glare that could make a person worry about their livelihood.  
  
He tried to be polite but he was met by *the stare* anyway. Sean shook his head and chuckled at the supposedly former thief's impending doom, he walked over to Marrow in hope that the girl would give the tired looking team a break.  
  
"Gambit," Emma said his name again in a smooth voice that contrasted with her jagged look. "How well do you think Generation X is doing?"  
  
"Dey are doing very good," he answered slowly, expecting a trap. "La petite is young, but she does well."  
  
"I'm inferring that Jubilee is 'la petite,' and indeed she is young. And Marrow, given that she seems much older she is young too. Right?"  
  
"Oui…"  
  
"So don't you think that it is irresponsible that someone, namely you, who is much wiser and older allowed two teenagers to arrange a bet and fight without a thought on how their teachers would respond?" Her pleasant tone suddenly dropped a few degrees and hovered above absolute zero. "I want an answer."  
  
"Gambit ain't old…" he tried to defend himself. "But chere, you are not stopping the fight."  
  
"That's because someone--again, namely you--didn't notify Sean and I that it was based on a bet until the seventh battle." Actually, she had known about the bet beforehand but waited so she could drag a confession out of Gambit. "Since the children were so adamant on continuing we decided that they could finish it for the sake of their egos."   
  
Frost lived up to her name as she gave the slightly less confident man the unmistakable look that Gen X had nicknamed 'Frostbite.' Her cold steel eyes pierced his own red and black ones with enough chill to make the North Pole seem like a tropical desert in comparison. And that was saying a lot. "Now tell me why you were being so irresponsible before I make you dance around like a chicken, *oui? *"  
  
***  
  
"Sean got us two minutes to rest before the last fight." announced Everett.  
  
"Thank-you, Irish!" Jubilee said before flopping onto the floor. "Hey Marrow! You going soft? We got the last two and we're gonna win the next!"  
  
"Sorry I hit you." Paige apologized to Skin, "I thought you were Mystique in morph."  
  
"No damage," he responded.   
  
*4-5,* Chamber said. *Game point. We're losing.*  
  
"Gee, Sparky, aren't you just roaring with positive energy today," commented Jubilee.  
  
*No, and don't call me Sparky.*  
  
"Yer right, I should just stick to 'roaring with energy.'"  
  
*Sigh.*   
  
"Don't be a grouch, Jono," Paige said. "We have a chance at winning the next one."  
  
"Yeah," Jubilee smirked. "Maybe she should kiss you in the middle of the battle, then we'd win fer sure!"  
  
*Jubilee!* Chamber growled.   
  
"What?" She grinned innocently at his glowering stare.  
  
Paige blushed while M just sighed in annoyance.  
  
Stepping in Everett asked, "What do you think is next?"  
  
"Dunno, maybe Marauders or something."   
  
*Something we can hopefully beat.*  
  
"Duh, we will." Jubilee quickly stood up. "What's left that we haven't? Don't worry."  
  
Marrow's voice came over the speakers; "Time's up ya lazy brats. Last round!"  
  
"Who're you callin' lazy-!" she started, but was cut off as the room was plunged into sudden darkness.  
  
There was a moonless sky above them, and the silence hung like a choking blanket. Only a slight breeze dared to disturb the air around the alert teammates.   
  
Everett took a small step forward and found that the ground was rough and loose, like sand. He looked towards Jubilee as she inhaled sharply in a soft gasp. Even though the night was dark enough to blind a bat, Everett could see her face turn pale as frost.   
  
"Jubilee, what is it?" he asked.   
  
Jubilee turned to him with an unreadable expression on her face, saying one word, "Worry."  
  
  
End of Part 3  



	4. Default Chapter Title

Growing  
Part 4  
By Ruby  
  
"Don't move." Jubilee whispered to the team. She strained her eyes to gather her surroundings, looking for something--anything--before it could see her.   
  
An earlier debate between Marrow and Jubilee on how well Generation X could fight ended up in a bet. And that led them to the Danger Room. The team had won four out of the nine battles against enemies Marrow had chosen, and they would win the bet if they defeated the tenth one. But, Jubilee silently promised herself, eighty bucks wouldn't be all that Marrow would lose if the next bad guy was going to be whom she thought it was. An arm there, maybe her second heart here…she wouldn't miss any of that.  
  
'Please let it be Marauders, please let it be something easy and not that friggin' monster,' she prayed. She saw Everett frown; Generation X had waited several moments in the shadowed desert but nothing had happened. Jubilee hoped nothing would.  
  
"J, I don't think anything's out there," he said.  
  
"If there isn't, be happy," she responded. The silence of the place bothered her. There were no creatures, no signs of life, and no place to hide.  
  
"What's wrong?" Everett was worried. His young friend was trying to find something but he didn't know what. Someone would attack their small group at any moment, however so far all he could see was the peaceful looking desert that Marrow had placed them in.   
  
She opened her mouth, about to speak, but then thought better of it.  
  
"Jubilation," M said. "You are not helping the situation. If you know something, tell us."  
  
"That's a surprise, you telling me to tell you what I know?"  
  
"Lee, spit it out."   
  
"Wait! Everybody quiet! I think I heard something." She looked swiftly around, trying to see what made the sound.  
  
"It's too dark to see if someone's here," Paige said. "Jono?"  
  
In a sudden burst of orange bio-kinetic energy a circle of light illuminated their location. It showed that the area wasn't so empty as they first thought; little beady eyes, gold from the glow, blinked at them and disappeared. Other than that nothing seemed out of place.  
  
"NO!" Jubilee shouted and ran towards Chamber. She tackled him to the ground and tried to muffle the glare from his powers by burying most of his head into the sand.  
  
*Get off me 'ead!*  
  
"Jubilee, what are you doing?!" Paige called angrily.  
  
"Just doing what Smokey says and putting out forest fires."  
  
"How's he going to breathe?"  
  
"Don't worry, he _can't_ breathe, remember?"  
  
Paige was about respond but was cut off as the whistling sound of several something's descended from above. Jubilee released her grip from Chamber and stood, ready to fight. Her eyes glowed with fear and anticipation.  
  
"WHY did you have to do that?" Jubilee muttered.  
  
The shine from Chamber's chest and the thing's rockets showed what had landed around them. They felt a chill up their spines of yet-unconquered fears as the group realized that the opponents were Sentinels. *Bastion's* Sentinels.  
  
[Bio-designate: M. Mutant. Eliminate.] The one closest to M said in a monotone voice.   
  
[Bio-designate: Synch. Mutant. Eliminate]  
  
[Bio-designate: Husk. Mutant. Eliminate]  
  
[Bio-designate: Skin. Mutant. Eliminate]  
  
[Bio-designate: Chamber. Mutant. Eliminate]  
  
[Bio-designate: Jubilee. Mutant. Eliminate.]  
  
***  
  
Marrow could feel Emma's cold glare and Wolverine's dark one on the base of her neck, probably thinking about several ways on how to kill and/or maim her, but she ignored it.  
  
"Marrow, lass, what are ye thinkin'?" Sean demanded as he watched his students being to battle against over a dozen Sentinels. "Th' last time Generation X fought these Sentinels they barely got out wit' their lives."  
  
"Don't think they can take it? I'm not going to let those sappy brats think I'm soft." Marrow responded with quiet loathing.  
  
***  
  
'I am going to kill her,' Jubilee thought, also with quiet loathing, as she sent a wave of her pyrotechnics at a Sentinel. One came up behind her and grabbed her arms. "Skin! A little help here?!"  
  
The harsh smell of burning metal and smoke hung low like a choking blanket, and the roar of rockets and the blaze from the flares were deafening and blinding. The battle had quickly ensued after the Sentinel's landing, and the team had split up into three groups to avoid being an easy target. Everyone other than Jubilee had gotten over the initial alarm and shock of the surprise attack and amazingly they were happy to have another chance at defeating their old adversaries.  
  
Folds of skin circled around the Sentinel's neck and it released Jubilee as its head was suddenly yanked backwards. Jubilee quickly spun and blasted it through the center of its chest.   
  
Another Sentinel aimed its missiles. [Target locked: Skin. Fire!]   
  
"AHH! I'm out!" he yelled.  
  
*Ev and I are out, too.* Chamber announced.   
  
"Looks like it's up to the girls to save the day, right M?" Husk asked. Her iron fists rammed their way through the Sentinel in front of her.  
  
"What did you expect?" M responded as she knocked two out from the sky. "Jubilee, Paige, we will work more efficiently if we all work together to watch one another's back."   
  
"Jubilee? Where are you?"   
  
A muffled yell came from nearby, "Eat paffs!" She had been nearly buried in Sentinels, and she was getting really ticked at having to face another one every time she turned around. Swiftly Jubilee avoided the Sentinel's attempt to injure her and fought back not only with dazzling bursts of light, but also used her previous training with the X-men to defend herself as well. With her gymnastic abilities she flipped herself over the shoulders of several of the machines to land away from the mass.   
  
***  
  
She knew she shouldn't do it too much in one day. It could cause wrinkles, but she couldn't help it: Emma frowned.   
  
Most of her students were out, and Paige had just been beaten, leaving only two to fight. M was doing a fine job of destroying indifferently, but Jubilee didn't seem to notice her friends' growing alarm as they saw her intensely trying to demolish anything near her with an amazing show of skill and power they did not know she possessed.  
  
***  
  
'I'm ready to drop.' Thought an exhausted Jubilee, 'Just lie down and wave the stupid white flag over my head and…' A roar from above made her look up but she couldn't tell what was causing it because the glare of the rockets were too bright. But when she finally did see what it was she stood frozen in place.  
  
"Jubilee!" Everett cried, "Look out!"   
  
His shout jolted Jubilee out of her reverie and she leaped away in time to see the face she had never forgotten had hoped to never see again.   
  
***  
  
"That's Bastion, right?" Paige asked Everett.  
  
"Yeah," he said, appalled.  
  
"Jubilee thought you were him that day in the bio-sphere, right?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"This is going to be bad."  
  
"Right."  
  
***  
  
'Very bad,' Jubilee thought. Three Sentinels, not including the object of her aversion, surrounded her. M was currently occupied with the ones coming in for a landing so she would have no help if they chose to charge.  
  
"We meet again, young Jubilation. Or did you say to call you 'Jubilee? '" Bastion said. His eyes were engulfed with malice.   
  
Jubilee glowered back at him, but didn't say anything. A thousand emotions and thoughts zipped by in her mind. Should she give up? Would she reach him in time before the other Sentinels attacked? It was only ten feet; she could probably reach him. 'What should I do?' was her silent cry. She felt scared, angry, helpless, and she had a strong need to be violent.  
  
"No witty remarks this time, mutant? You said enough to me that last time we met that I almost believed it was another one of your hidden talents."  
  
"My talent," Jubilee spoke with a growl so fierce Wolverine smiled with pride in the control room, "Is beating jerks like you until yer scrambled enough to make a dozen egg McMuffins." She gritted her teeth and positioned herself to attack.  
  
"Would this be where I respond with 'bite me?'"  
  
"How 'bout I do just that?" She launched paffs and herself at him, about to pound his big, shiny head in, but a Sentinel intercepted her and knocked her into the sand. Jubilee rolled a few feet, and then got up with a calm, cold rage. Narrowing her eyes she centered her focus on one point, and moved a finger.  
  
All that was left of the Sentinel was a puddle of molten metal and debris.  
  
***  
  
'How did that pathetic little brat do that?!' Marrow wondered as she watched the "pathetic little brat" cause the other two Sentinels to disappear in a shower of partial-limbs that fired off in all direction.  
  
She saw Jubilee shoot her a triumphant glance as she stalked towards Bastion; she was going to win. 'Oh yeah?' Marrow angrily thought. Without a moment's hesitation she pressed in the command to turn off the Danger Room scenario.   
  
***  
  
The room again plunged into darkness but a moment later was returned to its normal, lit, and gray room.  
  
"What the HECK just happened?!" Jubilee shouted after getting over the shock of the sudden change of scenery. She glared angrily at the control room. "Marrow! If you think I was pissed before-"  
  
"Jubilee?" Everett's gentle but worried voice said from behind her.  
  
"Repeat after me Ev: 'Buzz.' As in 'off.' I don't care if censors are watching--I'm going up there and I *will* bash her brains, lungs, hearts…"  
  
"J…"  
  
"Excuuuse me!" she said sarcastically, waving a fist. "Heart. Singular, not plural… In."  
  
"No, I mean… J, can you control your hands?"  
  
She rolled her eyes and turned to face the team. They stared at her with a mix of emotions.  
  
"Lee! Seriously, look at your hands." He emphasized the last four words.  
  
She looked and saw. "What the-?"  
  
Her pyrotechnics were wildly swirling around her fingertips, but she wasn't aware that she was still using them. Her powers burst sporadically for seemingly no particular reason and a loud paff exploded in front of her eyes.  
  
"Ok, I did not do that." Jubilee said while blinking the spots out of her vision. What was happening?  
  
"Well, considering your eccentric personality I'm not surprised that your powers are erratic too," M sniffed.  
  
"Yer not helping." After a moment of concentrating Jubilee got her hands to stop sparking.  
  
*Maybe I shouldn't be the one to be kissed in a fight.* Jono teased in a surprisingly mellow tone. *Ev, just peck 'er on the cheek the next time we get into a fight with someone… then we'd win 'fer sure.'*  
  
Paige nearly choked in laughter, and the others joined in with some snickers. After all the fighting they just did the exhausted team was in need of some mirth.  
  
Jubilee wanted to choke Jono, though it most likely was impossible. "You are enjoying this way too much." She pretended to sulk angrily and stamped towards the exit door. She was embarrassed that this was the second time she could not seem to keep her paffs under control in front of her teammates. Things just didn't seem to go her way this month.  
  
Looking up she felt some satisfaction as she saw just most of the peanut gallery in the control room glaring at or arguing with Marrow. Emma and Wolverine, though, were watching Jubilee with worried eyes as she walked out.  
  
***  
  
"Hey Wolvie." the small figure said as he came up silently behind her.  
  
"Darlin'." Wolverine said softly. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the small lake behind the mansion. He had found her skipping stones on it, every contact with the water's surface breaking through the air's stillness with a wet splash. "How yer doin'?"  
  
"Fine," Jubilee lied. "So, who won the bet?"  
  
"Marrow didn't."  
  
"Good." She picked up a shiny black stone and threw it.  
  
"Ya fought good."  
  
"Thanks." The stone sank on the fifth skip.  
  
"How yer doin'?"  
  
"You already asked that."  
  
"You were lying." Silence proceeded as he patiently waited for her to answer. But being an impatient person, Jubilee soon caved.  
  
"Maybe if I just flicked my wrist a little more…" she started lamely, then sighed. "It's embarrassing, ya know? I freakin' work hard and I've really tried ta do the right things, whatever that is. I joined Gen X so I would learn more about my powers, but it's like not doing anything 'cept make me look stupid most of the time…   
  
"Sometimes I wish I never left." She picked up another rock and tossed. It sank without skipping.   
  
"The mansion?"  
  
"No, So Cal." There was a sad smile on her face. Seeing his worried expression, she forced a grinned that was not too convincingly executed and gave him a hug. She headed back in, leaving him to think. "Not too many deep thoughts, 'k?"  
  
After a while Emma Frost came and stood next to him. Her pristinely composed and perfect posture was a distinct foil to the semi-feral mutant's somber and hunched expression. They were nothing alike on the outside, but they had one thing in common, and that was their attachment to Jubilee.  
  
Wolverine looked at her. "You were listening." It wasn't a question.  
  
The White Queen nodded. "Stubborn, that child."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Just like her pseudo-father," she said, not unkindly.  
  
"What do ya mean?"  
  
"What it sounds like. By the way, it's time for dinner." She gave him one of her trademark smirk of superiority. "Or do you hunt for your food?"  
  
He growled at her, but started towards the mansion.  
  
  
End of Part 4  



	5. Growing - 5

Growing  
Part 5  
By Ruby  
  
Things at the mansion were calm after the Danger Room incident. Bruises were tended to, egos remained more or less intact, and Jubilee got eighty dollars, a forced apology, but no respect from Marrow. For the rest of Generation X's stay Marrow avoided them as much as she could. Everyone was fine, though whenever Gambit made a slightly lewd comment or suggestion to one of them within Emma's earshot he would suddenly be seized by the urge to cluck.  
  
One week later the trip back to the academy was surprisingly a great deal quieter than the trip to the mansion. It was mostly due to the softly snoring and sleeping Jubilee, but then most of the team was asleep too.  
  
"Smart move, Cassidy," Skin whispered sarcastically from shotgun. He reclined back as much as he could without bumping into a teammate and placed his feet on the dashboard, he was the very picture of relaxation. "Leaving at four a.m."   
  
"Wasn't my bloody idea," Sean muttered tiredly, wincing at the orange glow from the rising sun. "Was that cursed woman's."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
The van rode over a large pothole. "Ach…!"  
  
"Can I drive?" Skin asked hopefully.  
  
He gave his student an incredulous look. "No."  
  
***  
  
"Careful where yer drivin'," Jubilee yawned, awakened by the not-so-smooth journey back. The arm she had used as a pillow had fallen asleep, and she stretched to get rid of the pins-and-needles feeling. She heard Sean grumble something as another car swerved I front of him. "And watch the road rage… don't wanna be hitting too many trucks on the wrong side."  
  
Out the window, the sky was a tint of bright, mid-morning blue that she had never seen before. There was no cloud in the sky, and the sun shone clear and pure. At the back of the van sat Jono, Paige, and M. Monet was awake, but the other two were still quietly sleeping on each other's side.   
  
"Hey J, you're finally up," Ev said cheerfully. He was holding the deck of cards Gambit had given Paige and was playing solitaire on his lap. "Paige didn't need these so she let me borrow them. Want to play Blackjack?"  
  
"Sure."   
  
As Everett passed out the cards Jubilee heard M reading from her poem book.   
  
"'The other day upon the stairs,'" Monet whispered. "'I met a man who wasn't there.'"  
  
"Reading out loud?" Jubilee smirked. "I haven't done that since I was seven." Not to mention that she hadn't willingly touched a book since that age either.  
  
It was familiar banter, one would say how childish the other was, and then the other would respond along the lines of "it takes one to know one." But M just stared vacantly at her book, only repeating the verses. "'The other day upon the stairs…'"  
  
"Yoo-hoo? Earth to Miss Perfect?" She waved her right hand in front of the stone still girl. Taking back her arm she noticed that the prickly feeling was still there. "That's just great, she's off to Never Never Land and reading poetry while my arm goes numb from lack of blood flow."  
  
"'I met a man who wasn't there, he wasn't there again today…'"  
  
"Whatever you say." Jubilee flexed her arm and hand to get the feeling back to normal, but the tingling grew stronger instead. "Ev, something's wrong with my arm-"  
  
"Dealer--nineteen," he said as he flipped the cards over, concentrating deeply. "Player--twelve. Dealer wins." He then shuffled the cards and dealt another hand.  
  
"Hello? Are you listening to me?"  
  
"Dealer--ten, player--three. Dealer wins."  
  
"Apparently not. Ow!" Jubilee was worried; the tingling was starting to feel painful from the elbow down. Scanning it with her eyes it looked fine, but the fingers itched. She scratched them, still it didn't help.  
  
"'He wasn't there again today, I wish that man would go away,'" M murmured.  
  
"Dealer--nineteen, player--ten. Dealer wins again."  
  
"Irish!" Jubilee was then scared, her fingers felt like they were on fire. "What the heck is going on? Ange?"  
  
The two in front were semi-passively trying to convince the other that they could or could not drive.  
  
"Si, I can," Angelo adamantly said.  
  
"No," Sean answered flatly.  
  
"Dealer--twelve, player--three. Dealer."  
  
Suddenly the sky went blue-black, resembling more like twilight than morning. From the van's headlights she could see that they were driving through sand, and not asphalt roads.  
  
"Hey, guys? This is really freakin' me out! Where are we? What the-? My hand-!" Jubilee was in full panic mode. The burning in her arm flared, and without warning her hand was sparkling like a week ago when she was in the Danger Room. The paffs nearly blinded Jubilee as she stuck her hand straight out. "Ev! Help!" His head finally turned to her, but instead seeing a friendly and familiar face she saw glowing eyes and a frightening grin.  
  
"'I wish that man would go away…'"  
  
The person sitting next to her was Bastion.  
  
***  
  
"Hey, J," Ev whispered to the head slumbering on his shoulder. "We're back. Wake up."  
  
"Hmm… go away," Jubilee muttered in her sleep.  
  
"I would, but you're on my shoulder." He gave her a gentle nudge so he could get out of the van. It still was an early Friday morning as the others stepped sleepily off and headed to their rooms. There were a few hours before class started so that the team could take a shower and eat. "Come on, you can go back to your room and sleep."  
  
With a jolt Jubilee's eyes flew open. "What-?!" she shouted when she saw Ev; friendly, familiar Ev minus the glowing eyes and nasty sneer. She sighed in relief, it was a dream. "Oh."   
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Um…" She looked around, trying to think up an excuse for the impromptu yell. It was then that she noticed the pain in her arm. She lifted it, waved her fingers at her friend and gave a sheepish smile. "My arm's asleep."  
  
  
End of Part 5  
  



End file.
